Daughter of Frederick the Second, king of Denmark, died of a dropsy the
2d of March 1619.
On the 18th of November 1618, a comet (as alluded to in a foregoing poem)
was seen in Libra, which continued visible till the 16th of December; and
the vulgar, who think
Nunquam futilibus excanduit ignibus æther,
considered it indicative of great misfortunes; and the death of the queen
which closely followed, the first object of its portentous mission.
“The queen was in her great condition,” says Wilson, “a good woman, not
tempted from that height she stood on to embroyl her spirit much with
things below her, only giving herself content in her own house with such
recreations as might not make time tedious unto her; and though great
persons’ actions are often pried into, and made envy’s mark, yet nothing
could be fixed upon her that left any great impression, but that she may
have engraven upon her monument a character of virtue.”